If you’re on the verge of deciding on installing a new floor in your home, then beware, don’t do that without proper planning. There are many factors that can impact your consideration and planning. After all, there are plenty of types of floors - marble, wood, ceramic, etc. It’s going to be pretty challenging for you, especially if you’re a beginner. 

Keep in mind your flooring tells a lot about your home, and you certainly won’t like to waste a lot of money on the wrong flooring. Don’t worry; we’re here to clear a lot of doubts for you!

Type of Flooring

The biggest consideration before starting to spend on floor installation is to decide on which type of flooring you want to install. Costs differ a lot when you choose various types of flooring. Currently, in India, we have the following flooring options:

• Tile
• Marble
• Hardwood
• Vinyl
• Carpet
• Granite
• Laminate
• Terrazzo
• Brick

VISUALIZE THESE FLOORING IN YOUR HOME

Tile

We’ve been seeing tile flooring since our childhood, as these are the most common type of flooring in India. Tiles are made of clay and are fired in a very hot kiln. These are most of the time cost-effective, and most importantly, you've got a lot of choices to choose from, depending on colors, designs, and textures. Ceramic, porcelain, vitrified, mosaic, and wood-look tiles are some of the most common ones.

Marble

Marble is the second most popular type of flooring material in India. A couple of decades back, we were able to see marble flooring only in the houses of rich people, but now, it’s much more affordable and common. It gives a very appealing look to them. You can expect the maintenance cost to be low. However, marble is still more expensive than normal porcelain tiles, but if you really want to give your home a nice rich look, marble is a great option.

Hardwood

Hardwood flooring is very popular in western countries, and now, the trend has started buzzing in India as well. However, there is still a very small percentage of people who go with hardwood flooring over tile and carpet flooring. Undoubtedly, the hardwood floor is exceptionally appealing, and you don’t need to bother about high maintenance costs too.

Vinyl

We can compare vinyl with hardwood flooring in terms of maintenance. In India, people are choosing vinyl flooring for their kitchens, bathrooms, and basements, and the trend is slowly growing toward living rooms too!

Carpet

Carpet flooring is looked upon as a quick and low-cost flooring solution, and it’s looked upon as a safer alternative to tiles and hardwood flooring. It isn’t slippery like tiles and marble flooring.

Granite

We have seen granite in kitchen platforms, but it is actually a decent home flooring option too. It’s very strong and durable. Besides that, it requires low maintenance. However, this type of flooring is a bit on the expensive side. 

Laminate

Laminate flooring is often compared to hardwood flooring. In terms of looks, both might look similar, but both have different characteristics. One of the main advantages is installation. Laminate flooring is so easy to install that you can install it by yourself.

Terrazzo

Terrazzo has been around for so long. Due to the durability and wide customization available, it can be a good choice for your home flooring. However, it was a popular trend in Indian homes during the 70s and 80s. Make sure to consider the current trend before choosing any flooring type.

Brick

Brick is another durable flooring material. Apart from being durable, brick flooring is inexpensive as well. This type of flooring is highly durable, but it isn’t that suitable for indoor flooring. You can consider it for your outdoor flooring.

Getting The Right Tools

Installing a floor needs a lot of skills, and you certainly don’t want to waste money by installing your floor the wrong way. The first piece of advice is always to hire professionals because they know the process better than you. However, if there’s just a small area to be covered, you can try your hands on it. Now, for this DIY flooring installation, you’ll need some tools, such as:

• Manual tile cutters
• Tile saws
• Tile mortar mixer
• Rubber buckets
• Rubber grout floats
• Tile leveling system
• Tape measure
• Tile spacers
• Knee pads
• Heavy gloves

Grout Color

People spend so much time choosing the right color, design, and pattern for their flooring, but they often neglect grout. Choosing the right grout color is equally important. Choosing the right grout color creates a significant impact on the overall design.

Depending on the flooring material you are planning to install, the ideal grout color may differ. This is when the importance of a flooring visualizer comes in. A visualizer tool can help you select the right tile design and grout color.

TilesView is the best tile visualizer tool. It allows you to add your tiles collection, pick grout color, and visualize how it will look in your residential/commercial space. Before floor installation, we advise you to visualize flooring using TilesView.

Mistakes To Avoid

Installing a new floor can be a big heap of challenges, as this isn’t the type of work you do every day. So here, we’ll be listing some mistakes you need to avoid while installing your floor. 

Compromising on quality

Construction work is always expensive, and a task like flooring may demand a bigger investment than you think. It’s good to save money, but at the very same time, compromising on quality is something to really avoid. Flooring is a permanent thing, so look for a robust solution. You can negotiate a bit on installation costs, transportation costs, etc. but never settle for low-quality materials. 

Choosing the wrong floor material

The important thing first - do your research before settling on any flooring material. Tile, hardwood, marble, carpet, vinyl, granite, laminate, terrazzo, brick, bamboo, etc., are the most commonly available options, but deeply consider what fits your needs the best before buying. 

Not preparing a subfloor

A non-professional person can easily make this mistake - avoiding the preparation of a subfloor before flooring. If you’re also planning to neglect preparing a subfloor, then you better avoid this mistake. The subfloor works as an important foundation for flooring installation. First of all, you need to focus on cleaning. A subfloor with dust, paint, wax, etc., can be so problematic. After all, nobody wants uneven flooring, right?

Inaccurate floor measurements

Obviously, wrong flooring measurements lead to wrong floor installation. Professionals invest a great deal of time in measuring up the space where flooring is yet to be installed, and there are big reasons behind that! There can be a shortage or excess of material and wrong calculation of time and costs because of wrong measurements. This will directly lead to loss of money, plus the concentration of flow of the work also breaks in the middle. 

Final Thoughts

Flooring installation is one of the important investments for your house/commercial space. When planning to install a floor, be very wise in choosing materials, measuring space, preparing the subfloor, and so on. We’d advise you to always check out a professional because the chances of perfection will be high.